Locking means for desk drawers



May 13, 1952 Filed Jan. 12, 1949 A. T. SWIMMER LOCKING MEANS FOR DESK DRAWERS 3 Sheets-Sheet l M y 1952 A. 'r. SWIMMER LOCKING MEANS FOR DESK DRAWERS Filed Jan. 12. 1949 3 Sheefcs-Sheet 2 I HIP".

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7' news May 13, 1952 $w|MMER 2,596,185

LOCKING MEANS FOR DESK DRAWERS Filed Jan. 12, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented May 13, 1952 LOCKING MEANS FOR. DESK DRAWERS Albert T. Swimmer, Youngstown, Ohio, assignor to The General Fireproofing Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 12, 1949, Serial No. 70,453

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in desks, and more particularly to a locking mechanism for the drawers thereof.

Heretofore, in desks of the type having a center drawer and banks of drawers in one or more pedestals, it has been the general practice to lock the pedestal drawers by a locking arrangement actuated solely by the inward movement of the center drawer, and to unlock them by pulling said drawer outwardly. In other words, the locking and unlocking of thepedestal drawers is entirely beyond the control of the operator except through the movement of the center drawer, and the latter is locked and unlocked by a key controlled lock. Thus, with this arrangement, in order to have access to the pedestal drawers, it has been necessary to first unlock the center drawer with the key and pull it forwardly a sufiicient distance to release the locking mechanism for the said pedestal drawers. Therefore, the center drawer must be partially projected outwardly continuously while the desk is in use in order to have free access to the pedestal drawers. In desks now in general use, the top of the desk projects beyond the face of the pedestal and, therefore, when the center drawer is partially pulled out to give free access to the pedestal drawers, the front of said center drawer still lies substantially inwardly of the plane of the outer edge of the top of the desk and presents no projection or obstruction to the user of the desk. Manifestly, however, in a desk construction where all of the drawers are flush with the outer edge of the desk top, it would be objectionable to have the center drawer projecting beyond the plane of the outer edge of the desk top where it would obstruct or interfere with the arms of the user, especially in secretarial desks where a typewriter is supported at the location of one of the pedestals and such projection of the center drawer would restrict the elbow room of the typist.

Accordingly, a distinctive object of the present invention is to provide a desk drawer locking mechanism involving a construction such that the locking of the side drawers must be placed under or removed from control of the central drawer at will, whereby a single key-controlled. lock associated with the central drawer may be employed for locking all of the drawers closed whenever desired, and whereby the side drawers may be left unlatched for opening and closing at will without the necessity of opening or otherwise manipulating the center drawer.

A further and more specific object of the in,-

vention is to provide manually operated means within the center drawer for controlling the locking and unlocking of the pedestal drawers, as distinguished from making the locking means for the pedestal drawers dependent solely on the movement of the center drawer to its full inward position. That is to say, according to the present invention, the flush type center drawer is provided with a key-controlled lock in the conventional manner, but inside of the drawer itself there is provided a manually operated element, which when set in one position while the center drawer is open, will cause said center drawer when fully pushed inwardly to automatically look all of the pedestal drawers. The center drawer may then be locked with a conventional key. When it is desired to use the desk, the key is used to unlock the center drawer and the same is pulled open to provide access to said manually controlled means which may then be moved to another position so that when the center drawer is again pushed fully in-- wardly, the locking means for the pedestal drawers is rendered ineffective and free. access may be had to the pedestal drawers even though the center drawer is fully closed, and out of the way of the user of the desk in the sense that there is nothing projecting from the center of the desk which will interfere with arm movements, or otherwise provide a garment catching hazard, while at the same time preserving a neater appearance for the desk while in use.

In that connection, the range of flexibility with respect to selectively locking the center drawer and pedestal drawers, is increased over arrangements heretofore known in the respect that if the pedestal locking means within the center drawer is not manually set to locking position before the center drawer is pushed in, the pedestal drawers will remain unlocked and therefore accessible, while the center drawer only is then merely locked by the key.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical mechanism according to which the latching of the side drawers may be manually and selectively placed under the control of a central drawer at will, merely by finger manipulation of a button located within the central drawer.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in a desk drawer locking mechanism embodying the novel features of construc- Figure 4 is a top plan View of the central-portion of the central drawer of the desk showing in detail the push button settable elementsof the drawer locking mechanism.

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4 with the cover element for the push button setta'ble-parts to View, said parts being shown in the "positions they occupy when the central 'drawer'lacks control of the sidedrawers.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5 showing the push button settable parts of the drawer "locking mechanism in the positions they occupy when latching of the side drawers is under the control'of the central drawer.

Figure-7 is a'transverse section on an enlarged scale on the line 'l'| of Figure 2; and

Figure- Sis a horizontal section on an enlarged scaleonthe line 8-8 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, Figure 1 illustrates the upper portion of a sheet metal "desk of the type with-which the present inven 'tion is 'concerned'and which includes, as usual, *a-top 10, side banks of'drawers I land a central,

shallow drawer [2 located between said banks of drawers directly beneath the top it.

"The side banks of drawers i l are mounted for inward :and'outwa'rd sliding movement between 'closed'and'iopen'positions in casings or pedestals 1 mm to latch'them closed a plurality of latches Mr are provided, one individual to each drawer.

"Thereare'two sets of the latches I i, one set for "each-bank of the drawers I}, and the latches of each set are carriedby a related, vertically disposed ibar I5 which'is'suitablymounted forli1nited "vertical sliding movement in the hollow, inner side wall Iii of the related casing or pedestallB.

"The bars I5 are disposed near the front of the desk. and the latches Mare disposed substantially horizontally and extend forwardly from said bars, being pivoted at their'rear, ends to said bars, as F indicated at H, forvertical swinging movements. Suitable springs l8 tend constantly to swing the latches I i downwardly to their limits of downward swinging movement as determined by suitable stop means which may comprise, for example, tongues |9 bent laterally from the bars I5 'for engagement by fingers carried by said latches.

'The front end portions of the latches it are formed'as downwardly extending hooks 2| which have'rear, substantially vertically disposed edges 22 and front, upwardly and forwardly inclined edges 23.

At their front ends the drawers I l have hollow side flanges 24 and in the rear walls 25 of these 'flanges are openings 26 into which the hooked front end portions of the latches l4 enter when "the-drawers H' are closed. In this connection,

the relationship of the bars l5 and the latches i4 tothe'openings 26 is such that when the bars I5 4 are at their limits of upward movement and the latches are at their limits of downward swinging movement, the openings 26 are alined with the hooked front ends of said latches and no latching cooperation between said-latches and the drawers 7 "H occurs. In other words, under such conditions, the drawers II are free to be opened and closed, the hooked front ends of the'latches I4 merely passing freely through the openings 26. When, however, the bars it are at their limits of downward movement, the latches M are disposed so that their hooked front ends extend below the openings 26. Therefore, under such conditions, closing "of the drawers ii will result in the'edgesof the drawer walls 25 at the bottoms of the openings 25 engaging the inclined edges 23 of 13119131561188 M and thereby lifting said latches, with the result that when the drawers are fully closed and the latch hooks 2| are disposed entirely forwardly of the drawer walls 25, the latches will be caused'by:thein'springsi3 to swing downwardly. .This, .of course, will result in disposition of thearear edges 22 :of the latch hooks 2| in front of the drawer wall c25. directly beneath the openings 26 in said .drawerwalls "and in consequent latchingiof the drawers! l in: their closed positions so that they cannot'beiopene'd until the bars l.5:and'th'e1latches i 4 are elevated.

In the front portion'of thecentraldrawer l2 and extending from side -to :side thereof is, as usual, a tray. structural designated generally as 21, which is formed f1om..sheet metalandwhichincludes a vertically dispo'sedirear wall 28 terminat ing preferably, butnot necessarily, at itsttopiin a rearwardly directedflange 29.

At a point preferably, but notnecessarily, midway between the sides 'of :the drawer i2 and welded or otherwise suitably "secured :against' the rear face of the traywall :28' and, if .desiredrto the bottom wall. 30 of i thefdrawer 1 t2,-"are:suitable retainingan'd guidingel'ementslifi l fona vertically disposed, vertically;movable wedge plate 32.

The wedge :plate :.32 f is disposedparallel Ttq 'and againstor adjacentto'the reartiace ofthe tray wal123 and has :securedthereto and extending forwardly therefrom, through .a vertical slot 33 in said tray wall 128, 2. button 34 .by'means of which it maybe elevated and 'depressed. To limit elevation and depression of .said wedge plate, any suitable stop meansmay be provided. For example, the slot 33 may be oflimited length for this purpose.

The lower portionsof the ends of the wedge plate 32 are inclined downwardly and inwardly, as indicated at 35, and the upper portions of the ends of said plate are inclined downwardly and outwardly as indicated at 36.

The wedge plate 32 is disposed between the inner endsof a pairor" bars .31 which are horizontally disposed, extend transversely .of the drawer i2 and are suitably mounted at'the'rear side of the tray wall 23 for'longitudinal projection and retraction. A helicaltens'ion spring'38sconnects said'bars 37 together and constantly urges them inwardly relative to each other so thattheir inner ends aremaintained engaged with the ends of the wedge plate 32. The upper portions of the inner ends of said bars 31 are-inclined downwardly and inwardly, as indicated at 39,'-at the same inclination as the'end portions.35 or the wedge plate'32. On the other handythe lower portions of the innereridsotsaid bars arcinclined downwardly and outwardly, as indicated at 46, at the same inclinations'as the end portions 36 of the wedge plate 32.

Moreover, said bars 31 are disposed at elevations relative to the wedge plate 32 so that when the latter is at its limit of upward movement, its lower inclined end faces 35 are engaged with the upper inclined end faces 39 of said bars, and so that when said wedge plate is at its limit of downward movement, its upper inclined end faces 35 are engaged with the lower inclined end faces 40 of said bars.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that if the wedge plate 32 is in an elevated position, as shown in Figure 5, and is depressed from that position, the lower inclined end faces 35 thereof will wedgingly cooperate with the upper inclined end faces 39 of the bars 31 to urge said bars outwardly until the apices M at the Junctions of the inclined faces 35 and 36 of said wedge plate pass below the apices 42 at the junctions of the inclined faces 33 and 40 of said bars. It will be equally apparent that after the apices 4I have passed below the apices 42, the inward pressure of the inner ends of the bars 31 against the ends of the wedge plate 32 induced by the spring 38 will result in the inclined end faces 36 and 40 of said wedge plate and said bars wedgingly cooperating with each other to urge the wedge plate to its limit of downward movement, as shown in Figure 6, with a snap action and to hold the same at its limit of downward movement until it is elevated by finger pressure exerted upwardly upon the button 34. Obviously, when the wedge plate 32 is elevated from its depressed position shown in Figure 6, the reverse action will occur; i. 2. the inclined faces 36 and 40 will cooperate to urge the bars 31 outwardly until the apices 4| pass above the apices 42, whereupon the wedging co operation between the inclined faces 35 and 39 under the influence of the spring 38 will cause the wedge plate 32 to be elevated to its limit of upward movement by a snap action and to be held elevated until it is depressed by finger pressure exerted downwardly upon the button 34.

The inclined faces 35 and 39 have considerably greater degrees of inclination than the inclined faces 36 and 40. Consequently, the overall effect of depressing the wedge plate 32 is to project the bars 31 outwardly, while the overall eifect of elevating said wedge plate is to permit the spring 38 to retract said bars 31.

The bars 31 extend outwardly through openings 43 in the side walls 44 of the drawer I2 and have their outer end portions 45 bent to be parallel to said side walls 44.

When the wedge plate 32 is elevated and the bars 31 are retracted the outer 'end portions 45 of said bars are disposed against or closely adjacent to the side walls 44 of the drawer I2, as shown by full lines in Figure 8. On the other hand, when the wedge plate 32 is depressed and the bars 31 are projected, the outer end portions 45 of said bars are spaced outwardly from the side walls 44 f the drawer I2, as shown by dotted lines in Figure 8. In this connection and as best illustrated in Figure 3, the lower edges of the portions 45 are inclined downwardly and forwardly to constitute cams for cooperation with the inner end portions of horizontally disposed pins 46 which extend inwardly from the upper end portions of the latch-carrying bars I5.

The pins 46 may be fixed at their outer ends to the bars I5. Preferably, however, they are pivotally connected at their outer ends to said bars I and are carried by the rear or free ends of forwardly and rearwardly extending arms 41 which are pivoted at their front ends as indicated Ill" at 48, to the inner side walls 16 of the casings or pedestals I3.

The inner end portions of the pins 46 are disposed so that they are spaced outwardly with respect to the portions 45 of the bars 31 when the wedge plate 32 is elevated and said bars 31 are retracted, and so that they underlie and are engageable by the lower inclined edges of said portions 45 of said bars 36 when the wedge plate 32 is depressed and said bars 31 are projected. Consequently, when the wedge plate 32 is elevated and the bars 31 are retracted, there is no effective cooperative relationship between the portions 45 of said bars 31 and the pins 46. When, however, the wedge plate 32 is depressed and the bars 31 are projected, effective cooperative relationship between the portions 45 of the bars 31 and the pins 45 is established.

Suitable springs 49 tend constantly to elevate the bars I5 to their limits of upward movement as determined by suitable stop means which may consist, for example, of stop lugs 56 struck outwardly from said bars I5 for engagement with suitable fixed abutments constituted, for example, by the top walls 51 of the hollow inner sides I6 of the casings or pedestals I3. As best shown in Figure 8, the springs 49 may be carried by and may act through the pins 46 to elevate the bars I5. In other words, said springs may be medially coiled about said pins 46 and may have legs extending from their medially coiled portion and resting upon the top walls 5| of the inner sides is of the casings or pedestals I3 in order to accomplish their purposes. In any event, when the wedge plate 32 is elevated and the bars 31 are retracted, the portions 45 of said bars 31 do not interfere with upward movement of the bars I5 and consequently said bars I5 are maintained elevated by the springs 49.

When the bars I5 are elevated, the hooked ends M of the latches I4 are, as aforesaid, alined with the holes 26 in the flanges 24 of the drawers II and therefore said drawers II are free to be opened and closed at will regardless of whether the central drawer I 2 is closed or open. In other words, the central drawer I2 lacks control over the side drawers II when the wedge plate 32 is elevated. When, however, the wedge plate 32 is depressed and the bars 31 are projected, control of the side drawers H by the central drawer I2 is established. In other words, closing of the central drawer I2 while the bars 31 are projected will result in the inclined under edges of the portions 45 of said bars 31 riding over the inner end portions of the pins 46 and depressing said pins with consequent depression of the bars I5. With depression of the bars I5 the latches I4 will be moved downwardly so that their hooked front ends 21 will engage in front of the walls 25 of the drawers II below the openings 26 in said walls 25 if the drawers II are closed, and in the same result if any drawer II is closed after the central. drawer has been closed. It will thus be apparent that as long as the Wedge plate 32 is elevated and the bars 31 are retracted, the drawers I! are free to be opened and closed at will, regardless of the position of the drawer I2. It will likewise be apparent that when the wedge plate 32 is depressed and the drawers II and I2 are closed, the drawers I! cannot be opened without first opening the drawer I2.

A suitable key-controlled lock 52 is provided for locking the central drawer I2 closed and thus looking all of the drawers closed.

Thearms 41 serve to hold the pins 46 against cendwise'; movement andalso serve to .-resist:rearward thrust of said pins by the inclined under .e'dgesof the portions-Hof the bars 3'! when the scentralr-drawer is closed-while said bars 3'! are v-projected so that the bars it are relieved of any csuchthrust.

Elie-mechanism at the rear of the tray structure? l is housed by a suitable cover plate 53, best :shown in Figure 701": the drawings.

xcontrolcof the drawers II from the drawer it whenever desired so that said'drawel'si i may be pened and closed at will without manipulating :saiddrawer-iianrl while thellatter is closed, all

by the more easy finger depression or elevation of thebution 36 before the drawer i2 is closed.

"Whfle the present mechanism has been illus- -trated and described as incorporated in a desk having :both right'and left hand banks of drawers II, it is apparent that the same is readily capable of use in connection with a desk having only a 'single'right or left 'hand drawer or bank of "drawers l'l. 'Moreover, some desks have at one sidethereof, in lieu of a bank of drawers, a typewriter compartment which is closed at its front -by-a hinged door, and in this connection it is apparent that the present mechanism may readily be used to control-opening of such a door.

"From the foregoing description, considered in connection with. the-accompanying drawings, it is believed that the construction and operation of the present desk drawer locking mechanism will be clearly understood and its advantages appreciated. It desired to point out, however, that while only a single, specific structural embodiment of the invention has been-illustrated and described, the same is readily capable of specifi= "cally different structural embodiments within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims.

I claim: '1. In a desk having'atleast two drawers, latch :xmeansfor securing one of said drawers closed, 'a'vertically movable bar by which said latch means is carried, means whereby said bar'is caused to be moved vertically to a position in which said'latch means is ineffective to secure 1 said drawer closed when the other drawer is open, projectable and retractable bar carried by and disposed horizontally and transversely relativ to saidmther drawer, a cam. carried by said second mentioned bar and effective when the latter is projected and ineffective when the latter is retracted and upon closing of said other drawer to move'said-first mentioned bar to a position in whichlsaid iatch means is eiiective to secure said first mentioned drawer closed, yieldable means 'for retracting said :second mentioned bar, and

manually operable cam means for projecting said second mentioned bar andfor holding the same :projecte'd.

2.1na'deschavingzat least two drawers, latch *means' for securing one'of said drawers closed, 'meanswhereby said latch means is rendered ineffectivetosecure said drawer closed when the iother drawer is open, a projectable and retract- :able bar carried by the other drawer, means whereby said bar is rendered eiiective when pro- '-je.ctedl;andineiiective when retracted to render said latch means efiective to secure said first mentioned drawer closed when said other drawer is-closed, spring means, for retracting said bar,

.-.and 1a depressible cam carried byrsaidbther drawer for. cooperation :at one :end thereof with theinner end of saidbar for projecting thelat- -ter, the upper portion of the inner :end :of sai '5 bar being, inclined downwardly and inwardly-the lower portion of the inner end of said bar being inclined downwardly'and outwardly, the lower portion of said end of said cam beinginclined downwardly and inwardly, and the upper portion of the saidend of said cam being inclined downwardlyand outwardly whereby upon depression of saidcam the lower inclined end portion thereof and the upper inclined end portion of said bar initially cooperate to cause said bar to .be pro- ,15 jected-a'n'd then the upper inclined end portion of said cam and the lower inclined :end portion of'said bar cooperate to hold saidcam against elevation andthushold said bar projected.

3. In a deskhaving'atleast two :drawers, latch means for securing one of said drawers closed, a vertically movable bar by which said latch means is carried, means whereby said bar is caused to be moved vertically to ,:a position'iin which said latch means is ineffective to secure said drawer closed when the other drawer :is open, a projectable and retractable barcarrie'd'by and disposed horizontally andtransversely relative to said other drawer, means guiding said-last-mentionedbarfor straight line projective and retractive movements,- a cam carriedby saidsecond mentioned bar and effective 'when'the latter 1 is projected and ineffective when the latter is retracted and upon closing of said other-drawer to move said first mentioned harm ;a position in which said latch means is effective tosecure said first mention d drawer'closed, and a cam element mounted for straight line vertical movements in said other drawer and cooperable with'said:sec-

0nd mentioned bar 'to'project the same'and-to so hold thesameprojected.

4. In a desk having a center drawer and pedestal drawer at each side of said center drawer, latch elements for securingsaid pedestal drawers closed, vertically-movable membersto either side of said center drawer by which said latch elements are carriedymeans whereby-said members are moved vertically to positions in which said latch elements are inefiective to secure said pedestal drawersclosc'd when said center drawer is opened, a pairof projectable and retractable bars carried by said center drawer and disposed transversely and horizontally'relative thereto in alinement with, each other, means guiding said bars for straight line'p-rojective and retractive movements, cams at the' outer ends of said bars effective when thelatter are projected and ineiiective when thelatter are retracted and upon closing of said center drawer to move said members vertically to positions in'which said 6 latch elements are effective to secure, said pedestal drawers closed, spring mean -for retracting said bars, and .a cam mountedlin said center drawer for straightline vertical movementand interposed between'the inner-endsof said bars for cooperationat its endswith-theinner ends of said bars toeiiect their projection and for holding them projected, "the upper 'and lower portions of the inner ends-of said bars being inclined downwardly'and inwardly" and down- 'wardly and outwardly, respectively; the lowerrand the upper portions of the ends of said cambeing inclined-corresponding to the inclinations ofthe upper and the lower portions ,of the inner ends of said bars, respectively, wherebyupon depres- 7 sion of saidcamthe lower portions of its ends 10 first cooperate with the upper portions of the UNITED STATES PATENTS inner ends of said bars to project the latter and Number Name Date then the upper portions of the ends of said cam 632,454 pangel Sept 5, 1399 cooperate with the lower portions of the inner 996,934 Loehler July 4, 1911 ends of said bars to hold the latter projected and 5 1,923,265 Rand Sept 26 1933 to hold said cam against elevation.

ALBERT 'r. SWIMMER. FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date REFERENCES CITED 262 Great Britain 1892 The following references are of record in the 10 634,685 France Nov. 30, 1927 file of this patent: 

